Second nostril - your face is wonkier than you think.

By Anonymous · Dec. 21, 2008

My first nostril piercing, on the right, was done by myself when I was sixteen. I was, and still am a big fan of doing my own piercings, as long as I know I've got the resources and skill to do it in a sanitary manner with good results (don't do it if you don't have access to proper, sterilised piercing needles, etc.). I wanted to wear a ring in it eventually, and I like a slightly heavier look, so I chose to do the original piercing at 1.6mm. As I was still at school at the time I used a glass retainer for my first jewellery. The procedure itself was fine, and the piercing came out perfectly, but I found piercing it incredibly fiddly to do by myself, and it was also quite a sensitive spot - I've got 12 fully healed self done piercings, and I'd say that this one was the least pleasant in terms of pain after my conch. Sometimes piercing pain can be quite satisfying but for the nose I found it just plain hurt. So when, almost exactly three years later I decided I wanted the oth
er side of my nose pierced as well, I concluded that it was something that I'd want done professionally.
There are two studios I like to get pierced at: the first is the well known Cold Steel in Camden, who're awesome for stuff that isn't standard like punches and so on, and the other is Crayford Tattoo Studio who're a bit closer to where I live and do a nice job on the more standard piercings (clearly their real specialism is tattooing, for which I recommend them). I figured for a nostril, Crayford could do the job perfectly well. So off I went with the boyfriend in tow one Saturday.
Their piercer had changed since I'd last had a piercing done there; I'd met the new one when my boyfriend and I were getting other stuff done though, although I can't remember his name. I knew that getting a 1.6mm nostril wasn't exactly standard so I thought I'd talk to him about it first  he said he'd rather do it at 1mm. I'm glad he didn't agree to do anything outside his comfort zone, and I didn't really mind downsizing the original piercing to match as I intended to wear studs for a while anyway. He also said he only had studs with pink gems in them left over, which is not my style at all to say the least but he said he'd be able to order me in some plain ones for next week, which I was happy with.
When I came back the following week, the lovely fellow had ordered me two options for my studs; discs and balls. He even remembered to order two of each so I could match the new piercing with the old one. Full of happy anticipation, I went off for an hour or so to get something to eat while he autoclaved the studs for me. The boyfriend bought me a doughnut. It was delicious. Mmm. So anyway, we went back in an hour and the piercer let me choose between the studs. I picked the ones with the balls. I sat down, and laughed when he said he guessed I wouldn't need to be told what to expect. He marked me up and I checked the placement in the mirror, and we were ready to go. I'd never been pierced at 1mm before, and I was surprised to find that the smaller needle actually felt different  it was more annoying and sharper and somehow more offensive, whereas normally it's more of a nice burning sensation. I wanted to swat the feeling away like a fly, haha. Nothing too bad though. After
that he popped the jewellery in and I changed over my old ring to the new stud myself. I checked it was all good in the mirror, got an aftercare sheet, paid the guy (whose name I wish I could remember, argh), and left.
The old piercing took about three days to shrink down completely to 1mm. The new one healed completely uneventfully. I did what I usually do for aftercare, which is to keep the area really clean with water and not touch it at all. I rarely use sea salt solution because it dries my skin out. I would definitely suggest you follow aftercare from your piercer, in general, but I know what works for me. I noticed that the piercing only took about six or seven weeks to heal, which I find amazing for a cartilage piercing, as it normally takes me at least twice as long. I guess this was because of the smaller gauge.
Since then, I've stretched the old piercing back up to 1.6mm, which was easy since it had been at that size for so long before anyway. I gingerly took the new one up to 1.2mm as well; the balls on the jewellery are the same size so they don't look mismatched to the observer. It was harder to stretch the new piercing as it'd never been stretched before, so I'm taking it slow before going up to 1.6mm on that side.
An important thing to consider if you want nostril piercings on each side of your nose, is that they will be wonky. Not by a large amount, and not as a result of the piercer or indeed the piercing itself, but because your face is wonky. Yes, it is. Nobody is exactly the same on both sides of their body. Just like most women find that their right boob is a shade larger than their left one, nostrils tend to be slightly different sizes and shapes (for both sexes, heh). Type 'double nostril' into the BME search engine and you'll see what I'm talking about. If you can't handle not being perfectly symmetrical then don't get them, because you'll end up taking at least one out. However, for me personally it is a small difference and although a couple of close friends who I spend a lot of time looking at head-on have noticed, I doubt many other people have. I couldn't care less who spots it anyway  my face is lopsided just like everybody else's and I have piercings to match, s
o what? I love them all the same.

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submitted by: Anonymouson: 21 Dec. 2008in
Nose Piercing

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Artist: Can%27t+rememberStudio: Crayford+Tattoo+StudioLocation: Kent

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